Automatic self-serving buffet



Nov. 9 1926. u 1,606,627 w. GRMER AUTOMATIC SELF SERVING BUFFET 1I 95 INVENTOR 1 WOLFGHA/GGHM R BY l AfroRNEYs Nov y 1,606,627 W. GRMER AUTOMATIC SELF SERVING BUFFET,

Filed May 8, 1926 4 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 WITNESSES IN VENTOR TTORNEYS lif@ateritueel Nev. 9, 192,5.

srsras *WOLFGANG GRMER, OF LONG ISLAND ClY, NEW YORK.

AUTOMATC SELF Application led May S,

This invention relates to `automatic self serving buffets, and has for an object to provide a comparatively simple construction wherein the patron will have a minimum amount ott work to do, and wherein the assistants in the kitchen or serving room will perform most of the work which is manually necessary. y

.Another object of the invention is to provide a selic serving buffet structure wherein a single power moved carriage is utilized to carry to different points containers or carriers having i'oodordered by different patrons.

A further object, more specifically, is to provide in a self `serving buffet means torsignaling the' work-ers in the serving room, so that one of the workers may Inanipulate the device to properly respond to the signal.

A. still further object is to provide in a seit serving bullet a carriage for carrying filled carriers to different points, the carriage being electrically driven and so constructed and associated with appropriate co-` acting members as to move to the desired point` discharge the carrier and then automatically move bach to the starting point.`

in the accompanying drawings- Figure l is a fragmentary view showing schematically part of the buffet device embodying the invention.

Figure 2 is a secti-onallview through Figure 1 on line 22.

ligure 3 is a diagram showing the wiring in associated parts in connection with the structure illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure et is a vertical sectional View through. the carriage and carrier shown in Figure l, the same being on an enlarged scale.

Figure 5 is a sectional view through Figure et' on line 5-5.

Figure 6 is a detail fragmentary view showing an abutment and stopping mecha`- nisin embodying certain features "of the invention.

Figure 7 is a view similar to Figure 6 but showing the parts in their fully stopped position. I

n igure is a diagram showing the wiring in associated parts oi the carriage.

9 is a detail view partly in section,

SERVING BUFFET.

1925. Serial No. 107,828.

by numerals. l indicates a suitable frame adapted to carry at the upper end a plate 2 and upstanding` flanges 3 for receiving the traction rollers l1- of the carriage 5. At one end of the frame 1 is arranged a partition or wall 6 so as to divide the space `into what may be termed a dining room and into a kitchen or serving room 7. ln the kitchen or serving room '7 is arranged the usual cool;- ing outfits, serving tables, etc., whereby the workers in the serving room may place desiredorders on the various` carriers 8, connect these carriers with carriage 5 and set the carriage in motion for later delivery to the customer. It is aimed to provide in the dining room a place for a large number of diners, and at each place there is providedL a button associated with other means, whereby the dinermay write out his order, place it in one of t-he carriers 8, press the button and certain mechanism will be set in motion tor lowering'the carrier. A t the same time1 an alarm will be sounded in the serving room V7, and one of the workmen in the serving room 7 may operate a certain structure here- 'matter fully described, whereby the lowered carrier is 'further lowered and then transported to the serving room.l where the carrier is supplied with the order and then placed on the carriage and returned to the diner. ln carrying out this scheme a suitable table 9 is provided extending for the full length oi the dining room or tor any desired length. This tableis provided with spaced movable sections 10 which are adapted to receive the various carriers S. Preferably, a chair or other support is provided opposite each section 10, as each section 10 indicates a space for a patron or diner. Each of the sections 10 is normally supported by the weight 1l which passes over suitable pulley 12 and thence downwardly to a sliding member 13 rigidly connected with the section 10. lVeight 11 is suiiicientlyheavy to normally maintain the section 10 in its raised position and to move the same to the raised'position shown in Figure Q'Wh'enever released. However, the weight .11 is not sufciently heavy to support the section 10 and a carrier 8, but in order to hold the section `10V flush with the remaining part of' table- 9 a catch 14C is provided. This catch isconnected with a suitable bell crank lever with a push button 16. After a patron or diner has made out an order and lill liti

placed it in the carrier 8, hc presses downwardly on button 16. This will release catch la, whereupon the weight of the car rier will cause the section 10 to move downwardly until it rests on the arm 17, said arm being rigidly secured to shaft 18. This shaft is normally locked against rotation by a suitable catch 19 in the serving room 7. A handle 20 is connected to shaft 18 at a convenientV point in room 7 so that one of the workers may at any time release catch 19 and turn handle 2O by moving the arm 17 out of the way. From Figure 3, it will be noted that a source of current 21 is provided by a convenient point. One side ot this source is connected to a bell 22. The opposite side is connected with wire 23, which in turn is connected to contacts 24 carried by the respective sections 10. A Vreturn wire 25 is connected with bell 22 Vand with a contact 26 for each ot contacts 24;. The contacts 26 are carried by the rod 18, said contacts, it desired, `being on the arm 17. From this 'it will be seen that whenever a vpatron or diner presses the button 16, and a particular section 10 is lowered, the circuit for bell 22 will be closed so that a sound will beV produced in the serving room 7 This sound will continue until one of the workmen operates the handle 20 for the swinging arm 17 out ot the way of the particular section 10.v When this occurs, the bell `22 will cease to operate, as a circuit will be opened and .section 10 will be permitted to drop down until it rests on the belt 27. This belt, 1ireterably, is continually operated, so that as so-on as the parts engage the belt, the carrier 8 will be moved into the kitchen where it is received by one of the workmen and filled as vheretofore de* scribed. lt will be `noted that the `platform 10 `is not quite as long as `the carrier 8, so that the carrier 8 overlaps the same and the projections or feet 28 connected `with each carrier rest on the belt 2( when the section 10 rhas been lowered to the point of contact with the belt. The various sections 10 cannot be moved by the belt 27, as they are connected to the sliding member 13; and to the various weights 11. However as the feet 28 engage the belt, carriers 8 will be slightly Y tilted by reason ot the length of the teet 28. This `will cause l:most of the weight torest on the 'feet 28, and consequently give them such a purchase that the belt may pull the carrier ott a section 10 and `transport the carrier to the serving room 7. As soon as the carrier has been moved off the section 10, said section willautomatically fniove upwardly .to its original position lushwith the table 9. rllhis is permitted by the fact that the am 17 is in its lover position, but eveil it this arm `was 1notiinlits Alower position, the section, 1,0 @wie were sweetly rast :the arm 10, as the arm would automatically swing out of the way. It will be noted from Figure 9 that a spring 29 is associated with each of the arms 17 for normally holding the same at right angles to the arm 2O but arranged so that the arms may move out of the way wien the sections 10 move up wardly. However, the arms cannot swing downwardly from the position shown 'in Figure 2 without moving the handle 20, as a suitable lug or stop 30 has been provided to prevent this action. Each of the carriers 8 is formed with a housing 31 which is adapted to receive the order slip and also the food. Arranged at the back of this housing is a shaft 32 pivotally mounted at and with the opposite end journaled in a suitable aperture in the top of the housing. A slot 34 is lprovided in the back oi the housing, and through this slot extends a member 35 A`which is rigidly -secured to the shaft 32 Vand which lis provided with what may be termed a switch arm 36 and a stop arm 37. The switch arm 36 is adapted to strike the switch abutment 38, while the stop arm 37 is adapted to strike the stop abutment 39. From Figure 1, it will be .observed that switch abutment 38 is arranged at a point slightly Vin advance of the stop abutment 39. It` will also be noted that these buttons are arranged at different levels, and the members 35 on the various carriers are also arrangedat diilferent levels so that a particular carrierwill only stop at a particular place. The idea is to provide a -stop38 suiiiciently in advance of stop 39 to open the circuit of the motor of carriage 5, so that the carriage and the carrier will slow down and be readily stopped by the abutment 39. arranged 'on the carrier 8 is :also ya swinging toot l0 pivotally mounted at i1 and rigidly secured to the small wheel or drum 4t2 to'which `the cable 4:3 is secured. Cable 43 extends over a pulley 44 and is secured at l5 to lever 46, and at i7 to the sliding `bar or catch 43. Lever 46 is provided with a cable Li9 connected with a sliding bar or catch 50. These bars or catches 48 and 50 are adapted to interlock with the hooks 51 carried bythe carriage 5 whereby the carrier is supported by the carriage. *l L The carriage 5 is supplied with adjustable stops 52 and 53 for spacing the carrier a short distance therefrom for normally maintaining the contacts 54e and 55 apart.

Thecarriageis provided with an electric motor v56 5t any desired hind and connected through suitable belts 57 with pulley 5 3 which isfconnected with one of the tion `wheels 4. lt will thus be seen that whenever the motor 56 is operated, one et renacer same. These trolley wires extend through suitable openings in the carriage 5 and are engaged by trolley wheels 6l and 62, which wheels are supported by suitable pivotally mounted members resili-ently held in a `given position by spring 6l, whereby the trolley wheels will properly engage the trolley wires. r.lhe current from these trolley wheels is taken olil and supplied to motor 56, as hereinafter itully described. Carried on the carriage 5 is a suitable bracket 65, which in turn carries a rotatable lever 66, said lever lun/*ingl a square hole there through and a pair oi arms, one arm being pivotallfv1 connected to the link 67 and the opposite arm connected with the link 68. is the upper part ot shaft 32 is square, it will be evident that whenever shaft 32 is rotated by striking the stop 38, as, for instance, in Figure 6, the lever 66 will be moved from the position shown in Figure to the dotted position shown in Figure 5, and this will open the circuit of motor 56 and also will cause the reversing switch 69 to be moved to a reverse position, as said switch is connected to lever 66 through a link 70. Link '67 is connected to the kniie switch Tl, whereby said kni'e switch isopened whenever shaft 32 is turned by reason of arm 36 striking abutment 38. Also when the shalt is turned as described, link 68 will be pulled, and as this link is pivotally connected at .72 to the bell crank lever T23, the bell crank lever will move so that the pawl section or extension of the bell crank lever normally engaging the ratchet wheel l5 will be moved away from said ratchet wheel. rlhis will release the sl'iai't 76, to which ratchet wheel has "been rigidly securechand will permit the cables 7i" und 78 wound on the drums 79 and 80 to automatically unwind by reason of the weight ot carrier 8 and the contents therein. it will be noted that the hooks 5l are connected by bar 8l, said bar carrying a Contact 55, and this bar will be lowered along` with the .carrier until the foot el() strikes the section lO. As soon as this occurs, 'toot Ll() will be swung upwardly into the carrier 8 and will pull the cable 43, whereupon the catches 4:8 and 50 will be retracted or pulled out of the hooks 51. This `will release these hooks from bar Sl and associated parts, whereupon the spring 82 secured to the lined member 83 and to the sha'it 76 will function for rewinding drums 79 and 80. ri`his willkcauee the bar 8l to quickly rise, and as it rises, contact 55 will be brought into engagement with Contact -i, so that the circuit oi' the motor 56 will be closed, as hereinafter fully described. This will result in the carriage 5 moving back into the room 7 as switch 69 has been reversed. ln order to retard both the downward and` upward movement of hooks 51 and associated parts, the rod 7 6 is provided with threaded sections 8e and 85, threaded section S5 having a washer 86 rigidly secured thereto. This washer lits to any desired extent the tubular casing 87 and moves longitudinally oi the casing;v as shaft 76 rotates. This will compress the air or rarei''y the air in the chamber SS to a certain erteilt and will thereby retard the movement ci' the various parts. The threaded sections and 65 are threaded into the casing' 69 oi the carrier and consequently' the shalt 76 moves longitudinally oi' the carriage as the carrier nieves downwardly and moves longitudinally in the opposite direction bar Sl and associated parts m ve upwardly. lt will be noted that when the carriage 5 moves` into the room 7, the nd wheel. et the casing 89 will strikean arm 90 connected with an ordinary switch fil, and as it strikes this arm, the Same will be nioved for opening the circuit of trolley 59 and at the same time the arm will act as an abutment for stopping a further movement oi the carriage. 'At the time that the carriage moves into the room 7, the knife switch 7l is opened and contacts 54C and 55 are in engagement. As the switch 91 is opened as just described, the position ot' the Aother switches is ot no consequence until this switch has been closed. Aitor an order has been placed in the carrier, the workmen will reach in backolf the carriage 5 and graso lever 66 and move the same to the posit shown in Figure 5, whereupon switch. 7l is closed and the pawl extension il el? be.,Y crank lever 73 is moved into engagement with the ratchet wheel 75.` This also causes the aperture in the lever 66 to be properly positioned for receiving shait 32 as the workman raisesthe carrier to the position in Figure el. Ars the carriage is movedyto this position, the hooks 5l automatically move over the catches 48 and 50 or are moved over manually. Usually it is necessary to move the 4hooks 5l manually over the catches i8 and 50, and indoing this bar 8l is lowered until the contacts 5ft and 55 are out of engagement. Moving the lever 66 for closing the switch 7l also operates the reversal switch 69 so that it is prepa ly set to cause the carriage to move out into the dining room as soon as the switch 90 has been closed. After the parts have bee adjusted as just described, the workman i ill give the carriage 5 a little push andat substantially the same time close the switch 90 by swinging the same a certain distance to the left, as shown in Figure 8. Current will then be supplied to the motor 56 for causing the carriage to move out until. it strikes its particular switch stop 66. lnlhen this occurs, the parts will be turned and eventually .assume the position shown in Figure 7. This v ill result, as above delill! scribed, in opening switch 7l andv in reversing switch 69. These parts remain in this position until manually moved back after the carriage has moved into room 7. However, as soon as the. carrier has moved down to the section l0 and thereby liberated the bar 8l, said bar will move back and close the circuit of motor 56 through contacts 5d and whereupon the carriage will immediately begin to move back into room T, where it is stopped by the arm 90 and where the movement of said arm opens the circuit of motor 56 b v opening the` circuit of trolley wire 59. Referring particularly to Figure 8, it ywill be observed that when the carriage 5 is moving out into the dining room current will be taken from the trolley wire 59 and passed through wire 91, linife svi eli 7l, wire 92, for reversing' switch 69, motor 56, wire 93, andfrom thence back to the trolley wire 60. lVhenthe knife switch 'Il is opened and the switch 69 reversed, as is the case immediately after the carrier 8 has been released and left on one of the sections l0, current will pass from trolley wire 59 through wire 91, wire 9st., contacts and 55, wire 95 to the switch 69, motor 5G and wire 93 back to the trolley wire 60.

Having thus described my invention, l claim:

l. ln a self serving' buil'et device, a table, a traveling belt arranged beneath said table, a carrier for carrying -orders and food, an electrically driven carriage for moving said carrier in one directiomrand means operated by the patron for moving the carrier onto said belt.

2. An automatic self serving buffet comprising a means acting as a. series of tables, a carrier for each table, a. vertically movable section for supporting `the carriers opposite their respective tables, manually actuated means for releasing the carriers so that they move down by gravity, a stop for each carrier for limiting its downward movement, means operated from a distant point for releasing said stop whereby the carrier may move further downwardly unuer the action of gravity, a. traveling-belt for engaging and moving the carriers to said distant point when vthe carriers have been lowered to their extreme lower position, a supporting trolley member, a carriage mounted on said trolley member, means forming part of the carriage including a motor for driving the carriage along said trolley member, a pair of conductors for supplying current to said carriage switch mechanism for turning on and off the current, means on `the cariage for supporting any of said carriers, and means adjacent each table for ltopping the movement ofthe carriage, said means also functioning to automatically .open .thecircuit of said zmetor. 1

3. An automatic self serving bildet coinprising means acting as a series of tables, each table being formed with a vertically movable section, acarrier for each movable section, means for causing said carriers to move from said sections to a supply point, means for causing said carriers to move back to their respective sections, said last mentioned means including a carriage provided with a support-ing and propelling structure, a motor for actuating said propelling structure, a switch carried by the carriage adaped to beI manually closed when the carriage is at the point of supply, means for automatically opening said switch when the carriage reaches a` predetermined section and simultaneously reversing the terminals of said motor, and means for automatically supplying current to said motor while the terminals are reversed after said carrier has been disengaged from said carriage whereby the carriage will automatically move back to sait supply point.

4. ln an automatic self serving buifet, a

carriage comprising a housing, a series of l supporting trac-tion wheels carried by said housing` for supporting the housing, one` of said traction wheels acting as a propelling wheel, an electric motor arranged in the housing, means for connecting the motor with one of said wheels so that the device may be propelled when the motor is functioning, means for connecting the motor with the source of current, said means including a reversal switch and a pair of auxiliary circuits, each circuit having` a switch, one of said switches in the auxiliary circuit being closed when the reversal switch is in one position and the other of said switches in the auxiliary circuit being closed when the reversal switch is in the second position, whereby said carriage may be propelled in two directions.

5. ln an automatic self serving buffet, a carriage provided with a casing, means for supporting the carriage, means for propelling the carriage, a carrier, a plurality of hooks for supporting the carrier in the carriage, means for causing said hooks to be released, and means actuated by the hooks for closing the circuit of said motor in such a manner that the `motor will operate in a reverse direction.

6. ln an automatic self serving buffet, a carriage comprising a casing, a motor mounted on said carriage, traction wheels connected with the carriage and with the motor whereby when the motor is functioning the carriage is propelled, means for supplying current to the. motor for causing the same to operate in either of two directions, a carrier removably associated with the carriage, manually actuated means for causing :the carriage to move; in one direction,

'andiautornatically :actuated .means Vfor releasing the carrier at a given point and then causing' the carriage to move in the opposite direction.

7. ln an automatic self serving buffet, means acting as a. series of tables, these tables having a vertically movable section, a traveling belt arranged beneath the said sections, a catch for normally supporting each section, said catch being adapted to be released by a patron, whereby the section and carrier mounted thereon will be moved downwardly under the action of gravity, means for prevent-ing the section and carrier from engaging said belt, means operated at a distant point for releasing a second time the said section and carrier, whereby the carrier is permitted to engage. the belt and be moved thereby to said distant point.

8. ln an automatic self serving buffet, a traveling belt, means acting as a series of tables arranged above the belt, each table having a vertically movable section, a counter weight associated with each section for normally holding the same in a given position. a carrier normally mounted on each section, the respective sections and carriers being of sufficient weight to move downwardly under the action of gravity when released, a catch adapted to be operated by a patron of the buffet normally holding the section in a given position, means for receiving said section when said catch has been actuated, and means operated at a distant point for moving said means out of the way, whereby the carrier is deposited on said belt and is moved thereby to said distant point.

9. In an automatic self serving buffet, a carrier adapted to carry an order slip in one direction and food in the opposite direction, said barrier comprising a housing open on one side, a pair of sliding catches at the top near the center, means for retracting said catches, said means including a lever, a series of cables and a swinging foot for pulling the lever when the carriage is resting on a support.

i0. In an automatic self serving buffet, an electrically driven carriage, a disengaging carrier associated with said carriage, said carrier having a pair of retractable catches and a rock shaft, a motor on the carriage, a plurality of traction wheels formingpart of the carriage, some of said wheels being connected with said motor for moving the carriage when the motor is functioning, means on the carriage co-acting with said rock shaft for opening the circuit of said motor as the rock shaft is moved, and manually actuated means for closing circuit.

WOLFGANG GRMER.

said 

